Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: TNXP) and Echo Therapeutics (OTCMKTS:ECTE) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. and Echo Therapeutics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

21.7% of Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.0% of Echo Therapeutics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. has a beta of 2.6, meaning that its share price is 160% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Echo Therapeutics has a beta of 1.68, meaning that its share price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Echo Therapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp.. Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Echo Therapeutics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Echo Therapeutics beats Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. Company Profile

Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, engages in developing pharmaceutical products for central nervous system disorders. The companys lead program focuses on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that is characterized by chronic disability, inadequate treatment options, high utilization of healthcare services, and economic burden. Its lead product candidate includes TNX-102 SL, a cyclobenzaprine HCl sublingual tablet, which is in Phase III clinical stage for the treatment of PTSD; and Phase III clinical stage for the treatment of military-related PTSD. The companys product candidates also include TNX-601, an oral formulation of tianeptine oxalate for PTSD and cognitive dysfunction associated with steroid use; TNX-801, a smallpox-preventing vaccine based on a live synthetic version of horsepox virus; TNX-301, a fixed-dose combination drug product for alcohol use disorders; and TNX-701 for radiation injuries. Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. was founded in 2007 and is based in New York, New York.

Echo Therapeutics Company Profile

Echo Therapeutics, Inc. is a medical device company. The Company is engaged in developing a non-invasive, wireless continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system with use in the wearable-health consumer market, diabetes outpatient market and in the hospital setting. The Company operates through the development of transdermal skin permeation and diagnostic medical devices segment. The Company has also developed its needle-free skin preparation device as a platform technology that allows for enhanced skin permeation enabling extraction of analytes, such as glucose, enhanced delivery of topical pharmaceuticals and other applications. The CGM System includes a skin preparation device, transdermal glucose sensor, battery and wireless transmitter. The Company has conducted several human feasibility clinical studies with its CGM System in healthy subjects, diabetics and critically ill patients, as well as a clinical study at several hospitals in the United States.